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The subject invention relates to data processing and data storage systems and more particularly to a cellular multiprocessor configured as a data warehouse simply accessible at extremely high speeds.
Present technology is witnessing the development of large remote databases or xe2x80x9cdata warehousesxe2x80x9d, as well as rapid expansion of the Internet and proliferation of corporate intranets. Demand is growing for increasingly large and rapid data transfers involving streaming video, visualization graphics and large data warehouse downloads over such new network protocols as the Fast Ethernet and Gigabyte Ethernet. The data which it would be desirable to access may be stored across heterogeneous sites, i.e., sites which contain different types of database systems or other data containers. Hence the data which may need to be accessed may be referred to as xe2x80x9cheterogeneous dataxe2x80x9d.
Computer system technology for large scale processing of data has also continued to evolve at a rapid place. A recent advancement has appeared in the form of the so-called cellular multiprocessor or xe2x80x9cCMPxe2x80x9d, disclosed, for example, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/215,424, filed Dec. 18, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,314,501, issued Nov. 6, 2001. The CMP architecture allows operating systems to operate in different partitions within a single computer architecture and permits the different partitions to communicate with one another through shared memory. Memory bottlenecks in prior art systems such as the SMP (Symmetric Multiprocessor) are eliminated through use of high speed main frame-class cross bar switching technology.
Our pending application Ser. No. 09/405,038 filed Sep. 24, 1999, and incorporated by reference herein discloses a system providing automatic parallel accessing, extraction and manipulation (e.g., sorting) of data from multiple heterogeneous data sites in response to a simple query or request from the user. A query may constitute a search or sort request or a myriad of other queries. An interpreter or xe2x80x9cAgentxe2x80x9d, receives a query or request, e.g., in the form of a JAVA script, and may for example, break the script into new scripts respectively appropriate for each node of a distributed system.
The system of our co-pending application further provides a method for metadata-based high level abstraction of a federation of clustered or distributed heterogeneous databases and/or data files in which the federation of databases is and concurrent execution of object methods across the distributed data. The single object is referenced hereafter as the xe2x80x9cdata source object,xe2x80x9d sometimes abbreviated to simply xe2x80x9cdata object.xe2x80x9d
This specification uses the trademarks JAVA(trademark), ORACLE(trademark), UNIX(trademark), SOLARIS(trademark), VISUAL BASIC, and ACTIVEX. These trademarks appear in the specification either with all letters capitalized or with only the first letter capitalized. Generic terminology for each of these trademarks is as follows:
JAVA(trademark)xe2x80x94An object oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems.
ORACLE(trademark)xe2x80x94Oracle Corporation is an industry leader in the development and sale of database technology.
UNIX(trademark) A multiuser, multitasking operation system originally developed by ATandT.
SOLARIS(trademark)xe2x80x94A distributed UNIX-based computing environment created by Sun Microsystems.
VISUAL BASIC(trademark)xe2x80x94A high-level visual programming language developed by Microsoft for building Windows applications.
ACTIVEXxe2x80x94A set of technologies developed by Microsoft that enables software components to interact with one another in a networked environment.
According to the invention, the methods and apparatus of our co-pending application are advantageously mapped onto the CMP architecture to create an extremely high performance data warehouse with great ease of use. In particular, a CMP is divided into a plurality of partitions. Each partition contains an operating system and has access to a database or databases via one or more xe2x80x9cDirect I/O Bridgesxe2x80x9d within the partition. A repository of metadata describing the categories of the data sources and other system attributes is contained in an area of CMP memory shared by each of the partitions. Each CMP partition further has its own messenger and agent code modules stored in memory dedicated to that partition, i.e. unshared memory. These modules facilitate parallel accessing, extraction and manipulation of data contained in all of the databases in response to a single script or request from a user wherein the data to be accessed is referenced as a single object. A plurality of such CMP data warehouses may be configured into a local or distributed system where searches and other methods may be performed on all the servers or databases of the entire system.
Still other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein is shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated of carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive, and what is intended to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims. The present invention will become apparent when taken in conjunction with the following description and attached drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts, and which drawings form a part of this application.